CDs + Vinyl
The Americans – I’ll Be Yours CD/LP (Loose)
Having started out as a roots band enthralled by pre-war American country and blues, The Americans have evolved into a blistering amalgamation of those influences, injected with a fiery blue-collar rock ‘n’ roll attitude, absorbing and reconfiguring the history of American music from Chuck Berry and Tom Waits to Bruce Springsteen. The band was plucked from obscurity by Jack White, T Bone Burnett and Robert Redford to appear in the PBS documentary series American Epic.
Apples – Mind Twister [Reissue/1978] CD/LP (Odion Livingstone)
An essential reissue from the Nigerian archives, the Afro-funk rarity Mind Twister.
Applewood Road – Applewood Road CD/LP+MP3 (Gearbox)
Applewood Road is singer-songwriters Emily Barker, Amber Rubarth and Amy Speace, who first met in Nashville in September 2014 where they wrote and recorded the song entitled “Applewood Road.” Six months later they reconvened to write twelve more songs and turn this exciting new collaboration into a full album project which was received to critical acclaim in 2016. The LP version is a limited package for the US market with an exclusive 7” single featuring “Losing My Religion” and “My Dear Companion” recorded live at Union Chapel in London. “Losing My Religion” also features as an extra track on the US version of the CD.
Bloodclot – Up In Arms CD/LP (Metal Blade)
At its purest, there is little that can match the visceral thrill and empowering spirit of hardcore. As frontman of New York City hardcore kings Cro-Mags, this is something John Joseph knows very well, and with Up In Arms, he and his Bloodclot compatriots deliver a furious collection that hits hard on every level. “In this band we’re doing what each of us have always done: give it our all,” he states plainly. Every track lives up to the rallying cry of the album’s title – the bursts of high energy hardcore act as the perfect accompaniment to Joseph setting his sights on injustice and the seemingly endless flaws of the contemporary world. From the moment the opening title track explodes to life, it’s clear that everyone involved is having a blast and playing from the heart, and that this is no frills / no bullsh*t music at its most passionate – every song evoking mental images of utter chaos in a heaving mosh pit.
Bonzie – Zone On Nine CD/LP (Beevine)
The second album from Chicago-based songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Bonzie, Zone On Nine pulls off the sublime feat of feeling both intensely intimate and otherworldly in scope. “All of my songs basically start as a conversation I’m having with myself alone in my room,” says 21-year-old Nina Ferraro, who’s created under the moniker of Bonzie since age 17. “It’s how I process and interpret things that have happened to me or in life in general; it’s my way of trying to understand the world.” Throughout Zone On Nine, Ferraro eschews the confessional singer-songwriter approach and claims her role as a fiercely honest observer and commentator who delivers her lyrics with powerful abandon. Kaleidoscopic in texture and spiked with startling intensity, the album opens with the jagged guitar riffs and measured fury of “Crescent.” That intensity sustains for the dusky urgency of songs like “Combback,” and for the synth-laced title track’s anthemic determination. “I think we’re here to experience things and express our experience, and to notice and enjoy how we each have our own different perspective,” says Ferraro. “I feel obligated to participate in life that way, on a very visceral level. To me there’s a rhythm that already exists in the world, and I want to be a part of that.”
Boris – Dear CD/2xLP+MP3 (Sargent House)
In the 25th year of their existence Boris deliver an album they describe as “heavenly-far beyond heavy.” Though Boris has traversed a broad swath of sonic territories, they have always been consistent in their embracing of excess, pushing their myriad of approaches and stylistic forays to points of intoxicating absurdity.
Breakfast Muff – Eurgh! CD/LP (Nuclear Blast)
Debut full physical album from the Glasgow three-piece. 13 tracks of in your face vitriolic punk thrash.
Cyrus Chestnut – There’s A Sweet, Sweet Spirit CD (HighNote)
A decorated veteran of the Betty Carter Trio, pianist Cyrus Chestnut came out the experience relatively unscathed with a style and directive clearly his own. It’s one steeped in the gospel church traditions of his native Baltimore, but also enlivened by an open ear aimed at a multitude of other influences. He has enjoyed stints with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, Vanessa Williams, Freddie Hubbard and Joe Lovano. He also speaks fondly of his valuable tenures with vocalists Jon Hendricks and Joe Williams. With the fleetness of Bud Powell and his own distinctive two-handed lushly impressionistic harmonies, Cyrus offers an imaginative set with his long-time friends Buster Williams and Lenny White. Together they breathe new life into the venerable jazz piano trio format.
Alex Chilton – Baton Rouge 1985 CD (Klondike)
The entire Louisiana Public Broadcast (WLPB) of Alex Chilton performing live at the VFW Hall, Baton Rouge on September 27th, 1985.
